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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has apparently failed in his attempt to acquire UN Security Council for full recognition of a Palestinian state. This after U.S. President Barack Obama declared that peace between Israel and the Palestinians could only be negotiated by the parties and not imposed by UN resolutions. The U.S. could cast her veto to block the Palestinian application, if nine of the fifteen members voted in favor. The international Quartet is now trying to resuscitate the moribund peace talks - Netanyahu has said Yes, Abbas has yet to announce his position.

West Bank Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Ismail Haniya, the Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza, have again crossed swords - this time over the attempt by Abbas to seek UN recognition of a Palestinian state, based on the lines of June 4th,1967. This implies Abbas's recognition of Israel in the remaining territory. However in Gaza, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, who represents at least half of the Palestinian population has categorically rejected the Abbas move declaring: 'The Palestinians will never recognize Israel or give up an inch of their land!' Hamas, an ally of Iran, also subscribes to Tehran's vow to wipe Israel 'off the map'. In effect, Mahmoud Abbas will be calling on the UN to recognize a Palestinian state that also declares its intention to annihilate another UN member state.

The 'Arab Spring' erupted against the Jewish state in Cairo where a mob, protesting against the Supreme Military Council in Freedom Square, turned its rage against the Israeli embassy. They smashed through a security wall, recently constructed by the Egyptian authorities, broke into the embassy and threatened the six Israeli guards. The lives of the guards hand in the balance before they were rescued by Egyptian commandos at the last moment. The Egyptian incident came within days of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's threat to send his warships to break Israel's legal blockade of Gaza. Analyst David Essing is of the view the two incidents have illustrated the differing approaches by the Egyptian and Turkish leaderships to Israel amid the current chaos in the region.

All quiet on Israel's new front with Egyptian-controlled Sinai and Hamas-dominated Gaza, but for how long? The eight days of violence, triggered by the deadly Sinai attacks that killed eight Israelis, has strained Israeli- Egyptian relations more than any thing else since the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in 1979. Israel's top analysts have been assessing the current state of affairs after the border clash and the Palestinian diplomatic steps at the UN for recognition of a Palestinian state on the lines of 1967. David Essing sums up the views of Dr. Dore Gold, a former UN Ambassador and head of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs who has documented Al Qaeda's recent move into Sinai.

Zvi Mazel, a former Israeli ambassador to Cairo warns that Iran and Radical Islamists are trying to turn Egyptian controlled Sinai into an 'Afghanistan' dominated by Taliban. In the diplomat's view, the Egyptian leadership now recognizes the threat to Egypt; the question is whether they have the will to confront the danger. IsraCast analyst David Essing assesses various aspects in the wake of the deadly Palestinian terror attack that killed eight Israelis and wounded thirty-one others.

The stage has been set: hundreds of thousands of young Israelis have signaled Netanyahu they mean business and the PM has pledged to remedy their economic plight as best he can. But can the PM reset his capitalistic ideology for a more welfare state policy as demanded by the protestors. Analyst David Essing is of the view that the stakes are extremely high.

How does Gen. Aviv Kochavi, the new IDF intelligence chief, view the current turmoil sweeping the Middle East. At a closed door session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Gen. Kochavi reported on Iran's nuclear weapons project, the popular uprising in Syria, Egypt after Mubarak and what's happening inside the Palestinian camp. Analyst David Essing has some of the details that have been released for publication.

Two prominent American Jewish figures Ron Lauder and Alan Dershowitz have called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to launch a viable peace initiative. In separate interviews with the Israeli media, the two friends of Netanyahu, have warned of the Palestinian PR campaign that is being spearheaded by the latest flotilla to Gaza and the UN General Assembly vote recognizing a Palestinian state expected in September. Analyst David Essing is of the view that both Lauder and Dershowitz would not have gone public with such critical comments, unless they felt that Israel's Prime Minister is unwilling to confront his Right wing supporters in and out of his Likud party.

The Palestinians are striving to refute the historical right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel in spite of the Bible's irrefutable documentation to the contrary. So the Palestinians appear to have adopted the policy of 'if you can't beat them join them!' The Palestinians simply claim they are the descendants of the Biblical Cananites, although, for example, the Palestinians' language happens to be Arabic that is not endemic to the Land of Israel but to the Arabian peninsula. In the diplomatic arena, a battle is now being waged over the Jewish and Palestinian narratives on the historical rights to the Land of Israel, or Canan. A prominent American expert Daniel Pipes addressed the issue in an article published in the June 22nd issue of the Israeli daily 'Yisrael Hayom'. In translating the article into English, Analyst David Essing is of the view that Daniel Pipes has written an incisive critique that sets the record straight about Zionism and Israel.

Lt.Gen. Benny Gantz has evaluated a wide range of security threats to the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee in his first presentation as IDF Chief of Staff. There is no question the former paratrooper commander will have to prepare the Israel Defense Forces for one of its most dangerous periods in the state's history. Gen. Gantz told the closed door committee: 'I am ready for this great challenge - in the IDF I will insist on professionalism and values on which there is no room for compromise.' After being briefed on the closed door session, Analyst David Essing says Gen. Gantz not only identified the threats but also outlined, where possible, his military preparations.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has weathered his political storm with President Barack Obama in Washington. However there can be little doubt now that Israel's leader will be pressed by the U.S. and the international community to go beyond his readiness to give up 'some settlements' for a peace accord with the Palestinians. It should come as no surprise that by and large, Netanyahu's stirring speech to the U.S. Congress was also applauded by the Israeli public except for hardliners in and out of the Knesset. But if 'push comes to shove', America's foreign policy is determined by the White House and not the Congress. Analyst David Essing sums up the PM's momentous visit to Washington.

Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu went into the White House on the brink of a bitter crisis with U.S.President Barack Obama. This time it was not over West Bank settlements but Obama's setting the 1967 border as baseline for a Palestinian peace agreement. While still in Israel, Netanyahu had immediately rejected it in no uncertain terms. Fireworks were in the offing at a time the Jewish state needed U.S. support in the face of a successful Palestinian campaign to acquire UN General Assembly this fall for recognition of a Palestinian state on the 1967 border. However after the meeting, when the two leaders appeared together before the media, both Obama and Netanyahu parted as friends and agreed to work for an Israeli- Palestinian peace agreement despite their differences. Analyst David Essing has this appraisal.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's upcoming visit to Washington may be one of the most crucial in Israel's history. At stake, the outcome to the diplomatic warfare that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been waging against the Jewish state. At present, Abbas has garnered the votes of more than 130 members of the UN General Assembly for a resolution recognizing a Palestinian state on the lines of 1967. Israeli experts have warned that such a step will have a grave impact on the Jewish state's international status, security and economic well being. Analyst David Essing has this assessment:

Speculation is mounting over just what U.S. President Barack Obama and Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyhau will tell the world when they make their much heralded speeches on the Middle East later this month. IsraCast analyst David Essing is of the view that two recent and dramatic developments will have a major impact on what they have to say - the U.S. targeted killing of al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan and the recent 'reconciliation ' between Palestinian West Bank President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas that rules Gaza.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has warned of a mounting attempt to smear Israel as an apartheid South Africa, paving the way for the enforcement of international sanctions. Barak issued his warning in an interview with the Haaretz newspaper. Barak also played down the danger that Iran might try and 'nuke' Israel, if it is permitted to acquire nuclear weapons. Returning from a visit to Britain and France, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told reporters that both states insist that Hamas must recognize Israel and prior agreements as well as halting terrorism against the Jewish state.

Will the new Palestinian leadership stand up? Is it West Bank President Mahmoud Abbas, who condemns terrorism or Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, who conducts it? Their differing reactions to the U.S. 'targeted operation' that killed Al Qaida chief Osama Bin Laden illustrates the duplicitous attempt to combine the West Bank and Gaza leaderships without Hamas giving up its declared goal of killing Jews and restoring the land 'from the sea to the river' - in other words wiping Israel off the map. Analyst David Essing discusses some of the ramifications of the U.S. Navy Seals' targeted killing of OBL.

One of the greatest surprises of the 'Arab Spring', now sweeping the Middle East, is the sudden reconciliation between the two bitter Palestinian rivals for power. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas from the West Bank and Hamas Chief Khaled Mashal, who virtually rules Gaza from Damascus, will go to Cairo on May 4th to sign an Egyptian brokered accord calling for a new election within a year. Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu swiftly rejected the step declaring: 'Mahoud Abbas must decide between Israel and Hamas that calls for Israel's destruction!' Analyst David Essing has this assessment of the latest political bombshell that has also taken Israel's security establishment by surprise.

After six days of quiet, following the recent flare-up along the Israeli- Gaza border, two more Grads were fired from Gaza at the Israeli town of Ashdod. The two missiles detonated without causing any casualties or damage, except for again terrorizing the whole town and sending its children, women and men racing for their bomb shelters on the eve of the Sabbath. This time, Hamas was not believed responsible and therefore IDF responded by hitting two unmanned Hamas targets in Gaza, where Gaza is the official government and bears responsibility for any attacks from its territory. In the wake of Judge Richard Goldstone's article of regret there are still those who have made up their mind against Israel in spite of the facts. Analyst David Essing is of the view that Israel bashing thrives on the use of doublespeak whether it was the original Goldstone Report and its aftermath or the murder of the Italian activisit In Gaza.

What would be a 'proportional' Israeli response to the Hamas attempt to murder and maim dozens of Israeli children in a school bus traveling near the border with Gaza? In the ongoing war of terror being launched by Palestinians in Gaza, the deliberate missile attack on the school bus is a new flash point - the IDF is not only avenging the missile strike but also seeking to deter it in the future. Since the bus atrocity on April 7th, the IDF has responded with air and artillery strikes over the border and the terrorists have been firing rockets day and night forcing 700,000 Israeli children, women and men to remain in or near their bomb shelters.